1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector and a method of assembling the same. A copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/269,137 filed on Oct. 10, 2002, entitled xe2x80x9cBOARD-TO-BOARD ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAMExe2x80x9d, and invented by Wei Hua Pan differently while with the same assignee as the instant application, discloses a related design.
2. Description of Related Art
Connectors generally have a large number of conductive contacts aligned in a dielectric housing thereof. Such connector must be designed to fulfill requirements of proper alignment, engagement and coplanarity of the contacts assembled in the housing. One way to assemble contacts of conventional connectors is to assemble the contacts from the top of the housing and pressed thereinto. However, achieving reliability of all the contacts assembled in the housing is difficult for connectors because the pressing force acting on the contacts is large and the contacts often change shape. Another way to retain the contacts in the housing is insert molding as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,748. The connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,748 comprises a housing comprising a first housing member and a second housing member, two sets of contacts insert molded in opposite sides of the housing, and a shield covering the housing. The method of manufacturing the connector comprises the steps of: 1) insert molding a pair of contact carriers to opposite sides of the first housing member; 2) insert molding the first housing member having the two contact carriers to the second housing member; 3) severing carrier plates from the two contact carriers; and 4) assembling the shield to the housing. Such a method is reliable to retain the contacts in position. However, the manufacture cost is relatively high and the manufacture process is relatively complex.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a contact strip for an electrical connector which can be easily and reliably assembled in a housing of the electrical connector.
Another object of the present invention is providing a method of assembling an electrical connector at a low cost and with high efficiency.
To achieve the above objects, a method of assembling an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of: 1) preparing a dielectric housing defining a plurality of insertion slots therein; 2) preparing a conductive contact strip comprising a plurality of contacts and a carrier connecting with the contacts, each contact comprising a mating portion adapted for electrically contacting a mating contact of a complementary connector, a head portion extending upwardly from the mating portion for being received in a corresponding insertion slot, a retention portion having a plurality of barbs for being secured in the housing, a mounting portion extending downwardly from the retention portion adapted for soldering to a printed circuit board, and an end portion extending downwardly from the mounting portion and defining a pair of slots in opposite respective sides thereof; 3) preloading the contact strip into the dielectric housing until the barbs of the retention portions of the contacts engage inner inclined surfaces of the insertion slots, the mounting portions of the contacts extending beyond the bottom of the housing; 4) inserting a spacer into the dielectric housing to position the contact strip, the spacer being inserted between and engaging with an inner side surface of the housing and the mating portions of the contact strip, the head portions of the contacts being rotatable beyond the top of the insertion slots; 5) pulling the contact strip downwardly via a tool, the pair of slots defined in opposite sides of the mounting portion of each contact being gripped by the tool to downwardly pull the contact strip; 6) removing the spacer from the dielectric housing; 7) severing the carrier and the end portions of the contacts; and 8) bending the mounting portions of the contacts in an alternating manner so that the mounting portions align in two rows.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.